Letters: Resume Tips And Welcoming Veterans Home

It's Tuesday, and time to read from your comments. Last week, we described some of the computerized tricks that companies use to sift through the thousands of resumes they receive and asked what you've done to get yourself noticed. Brian Willis emailed: I applied for more than 450 positions with every major bank and financial institution in Boston over six months. The way I was noticed, being from Colorado, was to fly to Boston to meet someone face to face. I walked into the building wearing my best and only suit, and happened to meet the vice president. I gave her my elevator pitch and handed her my resume. Long story short, I got an interview the next day and was offered a job less than three weeks later. I moved from Colorado to take the position.

In response to our program on how we should welcome home veterans of the Iraq war, Marguerite Mogul(ph) wrote from Pensacola: I think some form of national recognition is long overdue. After my overseas tour in Iraq, I stepped out of the terminal gate with only my mother to welcome me with her little American flag waving. I was lucky. So many soldiers had nobody. I pray for my brothers and sisters still in harm's way every day. But welcoming the ones that are returning is a great idea.

Mo Morales(ph) from Portland, Oregon, begs to differ. He wrote: It seems like the politicians want a parade. Vets I know want to return to their families and communities and pick up where they left off before shipping out. The best thing to give a returning vet is a chance to participate in progress, good work and economic opportunity. In my opinion, the best time to commemorate the end of a war is when the war is over, and not a day before.

We also talked last week with some of those who played a role in the Occupy Wall Street movement. Many of you had strong opinions. Kurt Shrek(ph) from Minneapolis wrote: When I attempted to add my personal resources to Occupy Minnesota, I found the group less interested in growing the movement and more consumed with the social aspects of getting together. But my - by my estimation, the movement fumbled, wasting their trademark equity. There was an incredible missed opportunity to engage the talent pool of underemployed, slow-burning progressives. There were many people willing to join up with huge skill sets, but there was no effort to efficiently incorporate newcomers. In a zero-sum game of available human resources, the Occupy movement scores a near zero on the realization of potential meter.

Sam Markowitz(ph) wrote in from Oakland: Occupy is not in the past. For my part, it began in Occupy discussion and planning group in my living room. It is still going strong, rotating among houses and Oakland committed to non-violence. And finally, a correction: We talked several weeks ago about how paywalls are changing journalism, as more and more news sites charge for access.

I cited an old statistic on how many NPR listeners contribute to their member stations. The up-to-date number is closer to around one and 10. If you have a correction, comment or a question for us, the best way to reach us is by email. The address is talk@npr.org. Please let us know where you're writing from and give us some help on how to pronounce your name. If you're on Twitter, you can follow us there @totn. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.